Above It All
by PhoenixIsis
Summary: AU A world torn by sides, where deep hatred leads to more pain. Can they get past the pain, and be above it all? IK (On hold)
1. Introductions Are Hard

"Above It All"  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha in any way.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Hey Kagome!" called two girls from down the hall. The gray walls seemed to make the two girls in their bright green uniforms stand out.  
  
A girl with gray-blue eyes and black hair turned from her locker to look at her two friends. Her black hair laid limply down her back, with stray strands gracing her face. She looked tired and drained after the week of school. "Hey," she replied, a little weakly for her normal 'upbeat' personality.  
  
"It's almost four thirty," stated a girl with a blue headband adorned by a lily-like flower. Her semi-wavy red hair graced over her shoulder accenting the sailor collar white and green shirt. Her green eyes were currently focused down at her watch on her wrist. "School ended at one. How many D's did you get?"  
  
Kagome sighed and rubbed her head. "Three."  
  
Her two friends nodded sadly towards the young girl. Today was the 'short' day, Saturday, and being here till after four meant a long wait for the poor senior. It seemed that all the trouble started when Kagome's mother died seven years ago. No one ever talked about the scandal her mother caused, but that didn't mean that she still wasn't labeled as dirt. Teachers and peers alike treated her poorly, but it seemed that as long as she kept going, everything one day would be all right. Thankfully, her two best friends Ayame, the red head with the headband, and Yuki, the other girl next to Kagome remained by her side.  
  
Yuki actually was quite the looker with her blue-green eyes and short brown hair. All the men wanted to date her, but she never gave them the time of day. Ayame was the brain of the group, always with her nose stuck in a book. Kagome just adored them, though she could never truly be close to them. "I'm glad you guys came back to see if I'm okay and not late."  
  
Her friends smiled. "Yuki is staying over," commented Ayame. "Since I live so close to school we both came. We best hurry, though, Kagome." Her eyes suddenly darkened.  
  
"It's almost five and if we aren't in by five 'they' will get you," stuttered Yuki.  
  
'They" were the Youkai. Here in land of Tsukaige, youkai were known to attack any human outside, after five, when the sunset. It was a common occurrence for a person to be found by the demons after five, and the sights were not pretty. There were always three possible outcomes: rape, torture, or death. These could be found in any number of different combinations, but the results were always horrible. The government did nothing, for this was the way of life for everyone. From dusk till dawn, the demons ruled and when they ruled, anything went. During the day, there was structure and order, where a demon could be executed if he dared to hurt a human. Kagome had always thought it was a screwy system, but kept her mouth shut.  
  
She looked at her watch. She had twenty minutes now, just enough if she ran all the way home. The detentions, or D's, were all deliberately given to her. Why? The people in the school and town wanted her gone because of her mother. Kagome, however, planned to make them all wait a whole lot longer, if she could. Exiting the building she spotted a small crowd of girls to her right. A very pretty girl, who looked amazing like her, appeared to be the leader of the band. The three friends shifted nervously and quickly ducked away from the crowd.  
  
"If Kikyo see you, Kag, you're screwed. She plans to tie you outside so that 'they' can get you," whispered Yuki.  
  
Kagome nodded. "I better run my best then. See you Monday!" With that said, she took off a fast jog over the dexterous grounds, that were starting to shift as the hour grew late. A loud yell behind froze her blood. It was Kikyo's snide voice telling the group to catch the 'whore' and give her the punishment she deserved.  
  
Kagome changed her jog into a full-fledged run. She ran through the gate of the school grounds and pounded down the pavement. A few people were out, but no traffic was upon the roads. She could feel the loud stampede behind her and quickened her legs. Her lungs burned slightly, but then again she was used to running like this. She rounded a corner and up ahead she saw a boy emerge from his home. "Hotoni," she muttered. He was a bully, a prick, and most of all. in the way!  
  
He glanced at the smirking crowd behind the running 'rabbit' and grinned. Without a hesitation in her thoughts, Kagome paused in her running and used her momentum from the abrupt stop to kick Hotoni hard in the stomach. He crumpled to his knees, where she spiral kicked him in the head. Upon her landing stance, she continued running without even looking to see what she had done. She also shoved down her small short victory of finally kicking the bully, but she would celebrate when she made it home. She still, however, had to get to the crossroads, and thus kept her mind focused on that first task.  
  
~~ ~~  
  
A boy sitting in a tree, his black hair forming a halo around his black clothing, sighed inwardly. His purple eyes surveyed the slowly fading day, with a melancholy attitude. It would be night soon, and even for him it would not be safe. This was the sixth town he had traveled to in the last week and it was getting too much for him. He was tired of always having to run, but he still had no place to go. His brother could never take him in and his two parents were both dead; one executed by the humans, the other dying of a broken heart. He sighed inwardly and began to pick himself up from his lazy position.  
  
That was when he spotted a girl in a green school uniform running for her life, it seemed. He watched with amazement at the speed and accuracy the girl used to knock down an obstacle in her path, also known as a boy. A small crowd of girls chased after her, ignoring the poor fallen boy. "Interesting," he muttered. He stood completely up in the tree, noticing his hands were starting to lengthen to claws. "I think I'll see about catching a 'rabbit' tonight." With that thought he leapt into the air, running along the branches of the trees as his hair started turning white.  
  
~~ ~~  
  
The crossroad was near, and Kagome sighed with relief before a slight shuddering of the ground paused her step. She glanced at her watch. "Shoot! The rift if forming!" Pushing herself with the last bit of strength and energy she hurled herself across the road, barely landing on the other side of the street as the rift formed. She waited till the land stopped shifting before rising to her feet. A good ten-foot wide chasm stood between her and the mob. She was safe from them, today.  
  
"Well, whore," called out her look alike, Kikyo. "Looks like you won't suffer the same fate as your mother! Don't worry! Come Monday you're as good as dead!" The girl and crowd laughed before turning around and walking away.  
  
Kagome sighed and looked at her watch. Five more minutes! She cursed and ran down her the street, towards the iron gates of the shrine. She swiftly closed them behind her just as the large town bell struck five. She leaned up against the bars and took several cleansing and steadying breaths.  
  
She had made it again, barely, but now she was safe. As she started to move away from the gate, two clawed hands reached through the bars and grabbed her around the waist. Kagome froze as her back touched the metal bars again.  
  
A soft growling voice murmured next to her ear. "Looks like you broke curfew. Care to take your discipline now?"  
  
~~ ~~  
  
The demon grinned to inwardly at the successful catch of his prey. She had been too naïve for her own good to only pay attention to the weak human crowd. Suddenly, he felt all the fear drain from the girl's scent. He was caught off guard as she also started to relax against the iron-gate. He was so shocked, in fact, that he loosened his hold on her. Before he could realize what happened, the girl burst from his grasp and ran into the shrine house.  
  
He cursed colorfully before leaping over the seven-foot gate in a single bound. He made his way to the door, before changing his mind and jumping on the roof. Ofuda spells were placed at all entrances, but to the demon's eye, he realized they only worked on full youkai. Lucky for him, he just happened to be a hanyou, a half-demon.  
  
He slid open a window and entered a dark, dust covered room. His nose itched as he stirred up the years of dust. This room hasn't been used in at least five years, he noted, and the smell of the boy, who once was here, was now faded to a mere whisper in the wind. Well, he came to several conclusions then. This shrine house was located in the dead zone area, a place marked as the graveyard for many humans. This was where many humans were dragged, tortured, and some even killed by the youkai. It had also once been a battlefield between the humans themselves. It was strange to find a girl living here alone, especially in this dead zone.  
  
He shrugged his shoulders and exited the room, opening the door with the least noise possible. He saw a light in the next room and slid open the door. It was a tatami room. The small house shrine stood in the corner and was lit with candles and incense. He scrunched his nose at the potent jasmine smell of the incense. Four pictures were placed on the mantle piece. An old man, a woman with short brown hair, a man with short black hair, and a boy who looked just like the woman. It was the girl's family. This small, slight insignificant room told him all he needed to know. The she-devil really was left all alone in this world.  
  
He suddenly didn't feel like catching the 'rabbit' anymore. She was probably already wounded too mentally that he probably wouldn't be able to get a rile out of the girl. He enjoyed tormenting people, but to his name he had never seriously harmed any of them. He was a prankster and nothing more, at least to the world of demons.  
  
This girl, though, had appeared to not be afraid of him, courtesy of his handy sense of smell. He was positive that she had lost her fear when he had caught her "Strangely enough," he thought, "She appeared to be more afraid of the humans chasing her than me." It was a sad thing indeed, for a human to fear their own kind more than the creatures of the night.  
  
He proceeded out of the room and continued down the corridor noting the stronger scent of the girl. His clawed hand grabbed the handle to the door and slowly opened. The girl had her back to him, and was currently writing various things, ignoring his presence. He was tempted to say something, when a soft voice cut the silence.  
  
"If you are going to do one, two, or three. I suggest you just get it over with because I have homework to do."  
  
He paused. "One, two, or three? What the hell was she talking about?" muttered the confused brain of the hanyou. "What the hell are you talking about, Wench?" he growled out loud.  
  
The girl shifted slightly and turned around to look at the youkai, her eyes wide with surprise. Youkai and humans alike all had to know what she was talking about since it was a major part of the 'order' of life. One was he was going to kill her, two was torture, and three of course was rape. That was all demons ever did, so why did this one not understand?  
  
She, of course, had never met a demon other than Bakyo seven years ago, courting her mother. He had been different from what she had been led to believe. He was kind and generous and never hurt anyone. He was a youkai, but she learned that a youkai was just like the name of a species, like snakes, rats, or butterflies. There were good and bad to all species, though sadly youkai tended to be bad more times than good.  
  
Finally she noticed why this youkai standing in her room wasn't like most. For one, he had adorable doggy ears perched on top of his head. They were covered in soft white fur that her hand positively itched to pet. True, had long silvery-white hair, a characteristic more readily found in youkai, that was long and wild looking. A scowl was fixed on his face, but his eyes showed his clear confusion. His eyes were where she noted his second difference from youkai. They were a melting warm gold color, with a slight sparkle in them that announced his bad attitude towards life. However, the warmness was something she thought only certain kind creatures could have.  
  
Kagome decided to keep her eyes trained to his face as to not give off the wrong impression to her 'guest.' She had noted by the claws, that she was weaponless as well as weaker, if the form fitting black shirt and pants said anything. The last thing she wanted was to tick off or even set off the youkai. "Ano. you know. one, two, three. Kill, Torture, Rape." She watched in wonder as his eyes widen ever so slightly.  
  
His surprise had doubled by the way the girl had breezily said the three. She could have been talking about the weather for all he cared with the tone she used. He also sensed no fear on her, just mostly confusion and surprise. A human not afraid of a youkai was unheard of. "Then again," he thought, "she must not be afraid of death or at least life didn't matter anymore." He recalled the tatami room with the four photographs, and the deadness of the house. She was alone at home as was she alone in life.  
  
"I'm not interest in any of those things. I'm just looking for a place to stay, wench."  
  
"St-st-stay?" she stuttered, rising from her seat at her desk. What was wrong with sleeping outside like other youkai? "Why?"  
  
He snorted. "Because youkai like to kill things like me."  
  
Kagome paused slightly before her eyes widened even further. She recalled Bakyo and the things she read about youkai in school. They all had pointed ears, like elves. This guy, however, had dog-ears. "You're a. you're a. Half-ling!" Oops. In a flash, the hanyou was at her side with his claws around her neck squeezing slightly.  
  
"Don't say that out loud, bitch!" He hissed. "Youkai have excellent hearing and humans are ignorant fools. Mixing breaks all the codes between humans and youkai!"  
  
Kagome's throat constricted from the pressure around her neck. "I'm. sorry," she gasped out.  
  
"Weak," mumbled the hanyou as he dropped her girl.  
  
She gasped for breath, remaining sprawled on the ground. What was she going to do with him? Better yet, what was he going to do with her? "Umm. I guess. you can. pick. a room," She muttered between breaths. What else could she say? He was stronger, obviously, and she wasn't cruel enough to make the poor hanyou fend for himself out there. "Explains why the ofuda spells didn't work," she muttered to herself. She slowly picked herself up from the ground. Then she turned her back towards the hanyou and returned to her seat at the desk.  
  
"Hey wench, where's the food?"  
  
"You can make it in the kitchen down the hall and to your left, but there isn't much there anymore."  
  
A strong tug on her hair, whipped her head around. The look he gave her could freeze hell in less than a second. "Oh all right, but I can't guarantee there's much down there." She stood up and walked around the hanyou and out the bedroom door. "By the way, I'm Kagome."  
  
The hanyou snorted his derision and mumbled a half hearted reply of, "Inuyasha, wench." 


	2. The Past

"Above It All" Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha in any way.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Kagome turned on the light to the kitchen, which flickered slightly. The room was completely spotless, almost as if no one ever entered the kitchen. Inuyasha's sensitive nose picked up a little dust no more than a week old at most. It was so unlike the room at the end of the hall buried in years of dust. Kagome moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door for him to see what was inside. What he saw startled him completely.  
  
Inside were a few plastic water bottles filled with water. That was all. No food, no other drinks, no food accessories, not even any evidence of food ever being in the contraption. He ran a hand inside to feel that the temperature inside. It was nice and cool, meaning that food could be stored in it. He closed the door, a little roughly, and opened up a door, above the refrigerator, to the freezer. If the refrigerator had put him off the fact that the freezer was only filled with ice cubes was too much for him. He closed the door in annoyance.  
  
He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see if there had been a reaction from the girl upon the vacancy of the refrigerator. He only saw what he feared to confirm... she wasn't surprised at all. Did this wench ever eat? If the refrigerator said anything, he presumed not. Actually, now that he thought about it, the girl did look slightly too thin for her own health. Her cheeks were slightly hollow looking in this poor light and black circles formed around her eyes. He also noticed that her school uniform appeared to hang off her curves slightly more than it should.  
  
"I guess there isn't anything in there at the moment. I think there might be something in the cupboards," she smiled brightly. She knelt down and opened one cupboard. It was empty without even a crumb. This proceeded for a few minutes as the girl opened up cupboard after cupboard showing everything one might need in a kitchen, except food.  
  
"Oi, wench? Do you ever eat?" asked the annoyed hanyou. He was beginning to doubt his decision about staying here. As long as she inhabited this place, the government by law was required to keep the heating, electricity, and plumbing running for the house. This had been instated soon after the rifting began where many humans lost family members. The government was thus required to provide these things free of charge, but if the wench died the government would turn it all off. Frankly, he thought that the humans were just plain stupid in everything dealing with youkai interactions.  
  
Kagome opened the last cabinet and smiled brightly pulling out one Styrofoam cup of ramen. Now she remembered where she put these from her last shopping trip four weeks ago. "I usually eat at school," she said. She moved over to stove and picked off a green tea kettle. She wasn't exactly lying about that, even through she only ate an apple for her meal- usually given by one of her friends.  
  
She filled up the kettle with water from the sink before she placed it back onto the stove and turned on the burner. She brushed her hands on her skirt and smiled again at her new... house guest. "I hope you like ramen." She had several more in the cupboard but could not afford to waste them with her eating tonight. Since her grandfather's passing, she had learned to eat once or twice a week the more 'filling' meal than her usual water and scraps. This insured that she had money to spare to get emergency food, supplies, and shrine accessories.  
  
At first it had been hard not being able to eat three meals a day. Her stomach constantly hurt from hunger and it was a continuous struggle for her to control that. Now, three years later, it only hurt once in a while. However, when she graduated from Kiseki High School she would be given full rights to the shrine land and home. From there she would be given money and access to her family accounts, other than the monthly twenty falcons- an amount most people could never live on- allotted to her by the government. Just one more year and she would be able to eat and do things like she used to when the other members of her family were alive.  
  
A soft whistle pulled herself out of her thoughts and she moved over to remove the kettle from the heat. She poured the warm liquid into the ramen cup before turning to hand it to the hanyou at the door, but he wasn't there. She turned to look around the kitchen to see him sitting at the table watching her with intense gold eyes. She hadn't even noticed him move over there, let alone gather the chopsticks that were tightly clenched in his... claws. He appeared to be calculating her at this moment, which slightly unnerved her.  
  
The steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of him, drawing the hanyou's fixed gaze from the girl. "Are you not going to eat?" He mentally chided himself to ask that question. He cannot get attached to this weak human. If and when the government learned of his existence, no one who had contact with him would be safe. On the other hand, he had forced himself into her home and demanded being fed, even though it seemed that she didn't eat much.  
  
"Eh? Umm... I already ate," she mumbled.  
  
Inuyasha snorted, clearly hearing her words. "Bull shit. I can tell you are lying by your smell."  
  
"My smell?" asked Kagome with wide eyes.  
  
Faster than he had ever thought humans could move, she was seated at the table across from the hanyou with her head propped up on her elbows. "What?!" he snapped back, hoping to scare her off with anger.  
  
Kagome, much to his dismay, smiled. "What did you mean about my smell?"  
  
Inuyasha groaned inwardly. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about what a dog demon's nose could smell. "Nothing."  
  
Kagome sighed slightly, but pressed no further. "So where do you come from?"  
  
Inuyasha choked slightly on the noodles he had just started shoveling into his mouth. "Um...Shoftmph Stphate Phainsz..." His ears were perked forward, his face was one of boyish innocence and contemplation, and the noodles dangled out of his mouth and down his chin.  
  
For the first time in years, Kagome laughed. It was at first rough and hoarse, as if the sound was hard to comprehend from the vocal cords. In a matter a seconds, her cheeks were flushed and the room was filled with the melodious ringing of her laughter. It only increased when the hanyou's confused look turned to a dark scowl lost in the effect of the noodles still hanging there.  
  
Inuyasha glowered at the girl before finishing up the noodles dangling from his mouth. "What, Bitch?!"  
  
"I'm... s-sorry... b-but... your face..." she struggled to string together the words, but her laughter overpowered her. She grabbed a napkin from a holder on the container and buried her amusement and laughter into it.  
  
He watch intently, a curious expression replacing the anger. He rubbed his claw across his chin to clean off any other juices that had been there and waited for the girl to regain whatever sanity she had left.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said as soon as she had regained her breath. "Where, again did you say you came from? I couldn't tell with the food in your mouth."  
  
Inuyasha scowled again. "I said, Shomore State Plains."  
  
"The Capitol? I heard that it is really pretty there."  
  
"It was before the segregation of the races, eight years ago. Since then its become a war zone."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Wanting to draw the topic off of him, he asked a question that had bugged him since he entered into the shrine house, "What happened to them?" He motioned to a picture hanging on the wall behind her.  
  
She turned and saw the portrait of her grandfather, mother, and brother. She turned her gaze back towards the hanyou, a little nervous. "If I tell you, will you tell me about yours?"  
  
Inuyasha, with another mouthful of noodles, looked a little surprised, but nodded his head slightly.  
  
"Well, my father died before my little brother, Souta, was born about ten years ago. I was eight when I first met Bakyo, a demon rabbit. He encountered my mother one day when she was in the market area, about three miles down that way," she motioned to her right. "That was before this became the dead zone, of course." Her gray-blue eyes turned sad. "They enjoyed each other's company a lot. He was really sweet, not like school taught how youkai were like."  
  
If Inuyasha was at all surprised by a demon enjoying human company, it didn't show on his face. She was grateful for that. "Anyway, someone found out, about seven years ago, and told the authorities. Humans with guns came and my mother was executed."  
  
Inuyasha's eyes widened. He never imagined the human authorities actually went around executing other humans that had been involved with the youkai. He had heard of some rare instances when humans were executed by the human government, but he had always thought them to be urban legend. After all, today if a human survived a youkai encounter, they were sent to specialized centers to 'rehabilitate' them. Whatever that meant, he had no idea, but he did know that no one ever left them.  
  
"A few years later they came for Souta and hung him off of the Goshinboku tree. They had told my grandfather and I that they believed Souta was a hanyou. Apparently, the same person from before said that it wasn't possible that my mom could have been pregnant before Bakyo." Here Kagome clenched her fists.  
  
"Who was it?" he asked. This had been the first part of the whole conversation, where the girl had lost her impassive, toneless voice. She knew who had been the cause of the death of two of her family members.  
  
"Her name was Raiden Fushi and she hated my mother for her relationship with my father. She also has a daughter my age that looks a lot like me. Her name is Kikyou, and she has made it her life goal to ruin my life as did her mother to mine."  
  
Bitterness and utmost hatred, dripped with each word the girl spoke. For a moment she reminded him of his half-brother and that made him very uneasy. Then again, he had been the same way towards members of this world when his mother had passed on. Maybe it was a common thing for hatred to flow through the veins of the deprived children of the world. Maybe it was just one more step added to increase the gap between the two species. It hurt his head to think about that. He would, but not again tonight.  
  
"Anyway, my grandfather and I were all that was left until he died of the stresses of life and old age. The last three years its just been me and Buyo."  
  
"Buyo?" His question was soon answered when a large obese cat slithered into the room. Apparently someone was getting fed and it wasn't the human.  
  
Kagome went and picked up the cat. "Wow, you've lost weight Buyo."  
  
"Lost weight?" Inuyasha's eyes widened glancing back and forth between the human and her pet. This was way too weird for even him. The cat was huge and it had lost weight? What was it? A panda? Better yet, it was probably a cousin to the blue whale. He shook his head slightly. The cat could go on for years without food with that much fat on it. The girl on the other hand wouldn't survive the coming year if she didn't start eating properly.  
  
"Yep. Buyo here used to not be able to move anywhere because his legs were too short compared to the rest of him. He slithered around, but if he landed on you to take a nap... well, you weren't moving for awhile." Kagome smiled brightly as she put the cat down and went to the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a can of cat food.  
  
"You're going to feed this thing?" Inuyasha asked in wonder. His clawed hand was currently pulling on Buyo's tail, though the cat didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Of course. He's practically starving to death."  
  
Inuyasha snorted his opinion. That cat would never be hungry with all that weight. He continued to pester the cat by wiggling the cat's ears with his claws.  
  
A strange strangled sound came from the cat's mouth, causing Kagome to turn back towards the duo. The cat dish in her hand contained the moist cat food. "Inuyasha, leave my cat alone. How would you like to have your ears pulled?"  
  
Inuyasha snorted again, but released the cat which went slinking off towards the dish that Kagome was placing on the ground.  
  
"So... You promised to tell me your story."  
  
Inuyasha sighed inwardly. Why did he even agree to that stupid question? Curiosity killed the cat, and this dog should have kept his nose out of her business so that she would stay out his. Too late to back down anyway, so what should he tell her? "My father died before I was born. He was the lord of all Inuyoukai. My mother was human and died before the war. I have a half-brother who's a full youkai and wants to kill me. That's about it."  
  
Kagome sat there for a moment digesting what he had just told her. She knew he was a hanyou, but to be left all alone for more than eight years was hard. She at least had her grandfather, and not until he left did she question her sanity. Every day that went by seemed to be harder than the one before. But to be alone that long... She shivered at the thought. She would never be able to do it. Sure, she hoped that she would live a long life, but that seemed less likely each day too. She would probably die long before she was ever alone for that long. "You're brother wants to k-kill you?" she asked, voicing another main thought.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "I'm hanyou. He has every right to want to kill me. I should not exist and the fact that I do just makes matters worse. Humans and youkai can't get along, long enough to see pass their differences before trying to kill each other. And the ones that do, get killed by themselves or one of the other races. It's a never ending cycle. He'll catch up to me one day and that will be the end."  
  
Kagome was silent for awhile before speaking again. "I guess you're right."  
  
Inuyasha gaped at her. What in the world? She agreed with him? Why? How? Was that even possible? She wasn't suppose to agree with him! He hated it when people agreed with him because then he couldn't argue with them! She took away his way of venting his anger. He couldn't have that!  
  
"Then again," she murmured to herself, though the hanyou heard quite clearly. "I don't think your brother has every right to kill you. It's not your fault that you are what you are. He shouldn't blame you for your parents' decisions. I do, however, agree that there are too many idiotic people out there that don't care whether the two races get along or not."  
  
"Keh!" spat Inuyasha. He didn't have anything to say to that, and for some reason he didn't really feel like fighting over whether his brother should kill him or not. He folded his arms and scowled, turning his head away from the girl.  
  
"Well, I guess we are done for the night," Kagome said catching the underlining tone in that simple sound-like word. She stood up from her seat, taking the empty ramen cup and chopsticks. She hadn't even noticed that he had downed the whole thing. She tossed the cup into the trash bin and placed the chopsticks on the counter. She would wash them tomorrow before she opened up the shrine. She then strode out of the kitchen and down the hall towards her room.  
  
"Oi, wench!"  
  
Kagome's eye twitched. "It's Kagome. Ka-go-me."  
  
"Whatever, wench. Where am I supposed to sleep? Those rooms have too much dust in them." He pointed a clawed finger at several doors.  
  
Kagome shrugged. "Wherever you want to." She yawned. "I really don't care." She walked into her room grabbing a towel off her closet door and her sleeping clothes. "I'm going to take a bath." She walked across the hall and closed the door behind her.  
  
Inuyasha heard the water turn on and he looked around to determine where he was going to sleep. He sighed inwardly and headed into the girl's room. The others were far too dusty for his sensitive nose that he would never get any sleep. He found a spot next to Kagome's bed where he could lean his back against the wall. This would have to do, but he had to admit that it was better than sleeping in a tree all night long.  
  
He sighed. What was he doing here? He should have never chased the 'rabbit' home. What was he thinking? Apparently nothing much. since he ended up here telling some weakling human about his past. Okay so he told it in an abridged format, but that's more than he had ever told anyone. In fact, he had never had a decent conversation with anyone since his mother died ten years ago.  
  
At eight, he had been a really happy kid, with a wonderful and beautiful mother. Whatever happened to that carefree attitude he carried? All he could tell was that it had disappeared shortly after his mother died. Then the war hit and he had to hide away so that no one would know what he truly was. He had been lucky, though the others, and there had been others, were not so fortunate.  
  
Now here he was, staying at some human girl's home, seeing some of the same things he had seen so many years ago. She still knew how to smile and apparently laugh, but he knew it would go away soon. That's how they all turned out in the end. Too many losses to count that the weight becomes to heavy to carry. That is when those smiles and carefree ways turn into nothing but an expressionless mask.  
  
His ears twitched at the sound of a door opening. He opened one eye, slightly, to see Kagome enter her room wearing kitten decorated pants and a matching button up shirt. She looked at him in surprise.  
  
"Are you going to sleep like that?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he muttered, closing the eye.  
  
Kagome shrugged and turned off the light and crawled into bed. At the last moment, she picked up the quilt that adorned the bottom of her bed. She stood up and draped the blanket over the sitting boy.  
  
His eyes snapped open at the feel of her hands dragging the blanket up and around his body. For a moment his eyes locked with hers. She of course couldn't see well, but he could. She was smiling at him!  
  
"Good night, Inuyasha," she said, before entering her bed and curling up in the remaining blankets.  
  
Inuyasha just sat there in the dark long after the girl had fallen asleep. He was getting soft. He grumbled to himself shaking off the sensation he had felt in his blood when she had smiled at him. That was the last thing he needed to think about in the first place. He had other troubles to deal with and the human wench wasn't one of them. His thoughts jumbled more as sleep claimed him, but throughout the night his ears never ceased moving, unconsciously protecting the girl. 


End file.
